Nationals clinch MLB division title despite defeat

The Washington Nationals captured their first Major League Baseball division title despite a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, thanks to a loss by the Atlanta Braves. The Nationals, who were already assured a playoff appearance -- the first by a team from the US capital since 1933 -- on Monday secured the franchise's first division title in 31 years since the club was based in Montreal and named the Expos. "The best is yet to come," Washington's Kurt Suzuki said. "The last couple weeks have been tough. It has gotten us ready for the post-season. I'm excited and really looking forward to it." Atlanta lost 2-1 at Pittsburgh, falling to 93-67 for the season. That ensured they could not match the Nationals, who clinched the NL East division crown at 96-64, with only two games remaining in the six-month season. "It would have been nice to do it on a win, but we've put in six months of hard work and all of that paid off in the last few days," Nationals slugger Adam LaRoche said. "Now we've got it done. Hopefully we will keep it going." Washington, Cincinnati and San Francisco have clinched division titles, with Atlanta also qualified for the playoffs and reigning World Series champion St. Louis or the Los Angeles Dodgers fighting for the last vacant spot. St. Louis' 4-2 victory over Cincinnati on Monday means the Cardinals need just one more victory or one Dodgers' loss to earn the spot. The Nationals are fighting Cincinnati for home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs, which begin next weekend. "This never gets old," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "This is just one more step. Now we can get ready for all the rest of the games we've got to play." Washington, which enjoyed only one World Series champion back in 1924, was without a major league club from 1971, when the Senators became the Texas Rangers, until 2005, when the Expos moved from Canada. "It's unbelievable to enjoy this with these fans and this city," rookie teen star Bryce Harper said. "It's a pretty great experience. We're going to try to win the World Series. I want to be able to kiss that trophy at the end." Philadelphia's Darin Ruf smacked a two-run triple in the second inning to produce the only runs against Washington, but the Nationals were watching the scoreboard to see how Atlanta would fare at Pittsburgh. Atlanta opened the scoring with a third-inning single that plated Jason Heyward, but the host Pirates took a 2-1 lead when Starling Marte, who scored on a ground out by Chase D'Arnaud in the third, homered in the fifth inning. That remained the score to the finish, and when the final out was registered on the out-of-town scoreboard in Washington, the Nationals began to celebrate with many of their supporters who remained after the loss. "It's only going to get better," vowed 21-win pitcher Gio Gonzalez. At St. Louis, the Cardinals enhanced their title repeat bid. Cincinnati opened the scoring on a Brandon Phillips single in the third inning to knock in Drew Stubbs, but the Cardinals answered in their half of the same inning with three runs: a solo homer by Jaime Garcia, a double by Allen Craig that drove in a run and a run-scoring sacrifice fly out by Yadier Molina. Molina scored on Daniel Descalso's triple in the sixth to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead. Ryan Hanigan pulled the Reds within 4-2 when he drove in a run on a sacrifice fly out in the seventh, but Cincinnati could not score again.